Titans are receiving punishment for something out of their control
It didn’t take a lot to recognize how bad the Tennessee Titans’ injury crisis was in 2021. Multiple key players missed time — whether it was on injured reserve or not — and a plethora of other contributing faces were forced to miss time as well, leading to an overwhelming number of players being jettisoned […]
It didn’t take a lot to recognize how bad the Tennessee Titans’ injury crisis was in 2021.
Multiple key players missed time — whether it was on injured reserve or not — and a plethora of other contributing faces were forced to miss time as well, leading to an overwhelming number of players being jettisoned in and out of the Titans’ facility to occupy roster spots.
It got so bad, that the Titans broke the NFL record for most players used in a season with 91 in total, blowing the old record of 84 out of the water.
However, despite those shortcomings, the Titans still managed to win 12 games and secure the top seed in the AFC. Not only that, the Houdini act led to Mike Vrabel winning the Coach of The Year award, one that many felt was his to lose for a good majority of the season due to his excellent managing job, while dealing with such an unprecedented injury situation.
Some might call that luck, some might call that a good example of persevering through trials and tribulations.
Whatever the case may be, it happened, and it remains as one of the more confusing, yet admirable success stories the Titans have had in their entire history as a franchise.
Looking ahead to 2022, the Titans surely didn’t want to repeat their injury catastrophe from 2021. They had good reason to do so as well, since they wouldn’t have as much wiggle room to maneuver through if a similar crisis came to pass.
Mostly because of the roster turnover and regression staring them in the face.
But here we are, four games into a truly up and down season, and the Titans are somehow ahead the injury pace they were at last season through Week Four.
Concerning injury trend
Being on the same injury pace as one that led to an unwanted NFL record certainly isn’t ideal.
It also isn’t something that shouldn’t be replicated in back to back seasons. This isn’t a subtle dig at a training staff or one that calls for jobs, it’s rude and unprofessional to do so.
But this is a message — or somewhat of an array of thoughts — that calls into question the balance of simple bad luck and other details that are unknown to outsiders in this situation.
Injuries are a given for any team. You can’t go a full season without witnessing many and potentially a few serious ones that can end seasons.
That’s why teams preach the importance of depth and the “next man up” mindset that’s dominated this league for long periods of time.
However, these trends of injuries that have hurt the Titans over the past season and a half roughly, have been anything but normal.
Through four weeks, the Titans have 11 players on injured reserve. Four of those players — Taylor Lewan, Harold Landry and Elijah Molden — were bonafide starters for the Titans coming into the season and were expected to play significant snaps barring any unforeseen circumstances.
5 other names — Chance Campbell, Da’Shawn Hand, Jamarco Jones, Chris Jackson, and Racey McMath — were set to be important depth pieces on both sides of the ball.
2 other names — A.J. Moore and Trenton Cannon — made the roster with special teams contributions in mind.
Monty Rice is the last name that’s still on injured reserve/PUP, but his practice window was activated during the week, so there’s a decent chance he could remove his name from the list soon.
But that doesn’t tell the full story regarding the injury situation. The likes of Treylon Burks, Bud Dupree, Ola Adeniyi, Amani Hooker, and Zach Cunningham have all either missed time, or are in the process of missing time due to injury as well.
Regardless, having this many players on the injured reserve list — and on the injury report period — this early in the year is something made out of a cheesy, cheap movie made by a couple of local kids aiming for a useless film award.
The development has made the Titans evaluate their options in full once again, which has in part opened up a pathway for some immediate consequences as a result.
The consequences
That usually means you’re moving players in and out of the lineup, and you’re asking unfamiliar names to play snaps that you don’t know that they’re ready for.
It worked out for the Titans last year, miraculously of course.
But you surely can’t expect it to work year after year, unless you’re Bill Belichick, who somehow got it to work year after year during the heavy hitting days of the New England Patriots’ dynasty.
We’re seeing the effects this year, with Terrance Mitchell being one of the more notable examples. Mitchell was signed off the Patriots’ practice squad during preparation week for Week Three.
He was instantly slotted into the lineup over second year corner Caleb Farley. But his results were pedestrian at best, with the most concerning ones coming during his debut in Week Three against the Las Vegas Raiders, where he was picked on time and time again during a crucial Raiders drive in the fourth quarter.
Another example is Derek Tuszka. He was asked to fill in and provide some decent snaps as an edge rusher when Ola Adeniyi and Dupree were both ruled out for Week Three. Tuszka didn’t respond, playing 16 snaps and not making an impact.
Dennis Daley is another one, as he struggled when brought on in relief during the Titans’ Week Two loss against the Buffalo Bills.
To be fair thougj, Daley did rebound with much better games against the Raiders and Colts, which is a positive sign.
The point is, seemingly plugging in pieces when the injury front gets aggressive can’t be relied on consistently.
Depth bodies are good insurance policies, but asking them to replace and produce in roles they aren’t accustomed to, isn’t a practice you should be engaging in daily. Sure, some other depth players can handle the extended duties, but most of them can only go so far.
That’s why the Titans’ case is concerning, since this injury trend has already nipped at the team’s back already and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.
And for a team that needs as much help as possible to win the division and survive with their daunting first place schedule, that doesn’t sound like good news whatsoever.
If there’s any team that can work through these injury mishaps though, it’s the Titans because they’ve shown they can work through it before, regression and luck be damned.
But the outlook isn’t all that positive.
Luckily for the Titans, the bye week is coming up after this Sunday’s Week Five matchup against the Washington Commanders. That should give some key contributors time to heal and potentially be back for the team’s crucial Week Seven game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Until then though, this injury situation remains a big concern.
Featured image via Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
